When I left off yesterday, we had arrived at the train station in Moscow for our overnight train to St. Petersburg. Before I tell you about the events of the next day, please let me share a little with you about this train ride. The train compartment we were in had two beds built into the seats of the compartment. My wife and I got to share a compartment. It had a little table, some water bottles, a little bag with toothbrush and toothpaste, and white slippers to wear while on the train. The window had a pull down cover to keep the light out, and there was plenty of room for suitcases and backpacks either under the seats or overhead.
Our train departed at midnight, to arrive at St. Petersburg shortly after 8:00AM. We attempted to sleep, and the motion of the train helped out a bit, but no matter how hard you may try, turning seating benches into beds will never work out the best. So, all in all, it was a rather short night of sleep.
We arrived in St. Petersburg to a welcome cool morning, overcast, and even a little drizzly. We walked down the train platform and located our driver, who would take us to our hotel. We started to drive around St. Petersburg, noticing that it was a little less busy on the roads than Moscow had been. (Moscow has approximately 10 million people, St. Petersburg only about 4 million, if I remember correctly) We came to the place where our hotel was, but our driver was unfamiliar with that part of town. I have to admit that I thought we were in the wrong place. All around were shabby looking warehouses and run down buildings. Let's just say that locating hotels is not as easy as we have it here in America. Finally, the driver saw a place where buses would park, so we drove over there, he asked them for some directions, and we discovered that we were practically right next to our hotel. I would never have thought it was a hotel if I had just driven by. Yet, once we got inside, we found a rather nice hotel. (I'll put some pictures up of it soon!)
Since it was so early in the day, our rooms were not ready for us. So we dropped off our luggage in a couple of the rooms that would be ours later, and then set out to walk again (yes, walking is the best way to get around, that and the metro). We went looking for the nearest metro stop, which was only about a kilometer away. This one required tokens instead of cards, so we purchased a number of little tokens, inserted them, and then rode down the escalator toward the metro. Only, this was no ordinary escalator. This was a looooooooooooooong escalator, and soon I'll include a video to show you just how long it really was!
We went toward downtown St. Petersburg, where we had an appointment with the Bishop of the Lutheran Church of Ingria, as our partner church in Russia is called. Bishop Kuggapi is a very humble man who has lived through a lot, and that was very apparent as we spoke with him. We relied upon Jon, our missionary, to translate for us, and enjoyed some refreshments while we chatted. We heard about his past, about his faith journey, and some of the things that he thought we should know for our retreat, which would take place later on in the trip. Overall, my impressions of the Bishop were that he is a true man of faith who cares deeply for God's people in Russia.
After meeting with the Bishop (and presenting him with a cowboy hat, as one of our group members is from Texas!), we then walked around a little bit of the city. Our destination was the Hermitage, which formerly served the Tsars as their summer palace. This huge building currently serves as a large museum of art. There are many famous paintings located there, and innumerable works of art. You literally cannot see everything there in one day. So we got in line to get our tickets.
And we waited. And we waited some more. Finally, we split up our group of 8 throughout the four lines to buy tickets, found which line was moving fastest, and then jumped into it. After checking our bags, we spent the next 2-3 hours looking through the Hermitage at all the paintings (yes, I'll post a few pictures of them in the future). But the one thing that really stood out to me was how little protection these works of art had. There were windows which led out to the busy streets outside which hung open to let a breeze in, along with all the smog and other pollutants in the air, and very few of the paintings were encased in glass. There was no climate control throughout the building, so some rooms were very hot, and others (the ones with the windows open) were very cool. It struck me that this was probably not the best way to preserve these works of art.
Finally, our group wore down, and we decided that it was time to find some dinner. We located this cute little Italian restaurant in the downtown area and went in to eat. Most of our group found something interesting to eat on the menu (I personally selected calamari!). We had a good meal together, and we were all thirsty. This means that it is a good time to tell you about a phenomenon which I had never before seen.
In St. Petersburg, it is not good for visitors to drink the local water. There is something in the water that the locals are used to, but that can cause some real problems for visitors. So we really tried to remember that. Now, being mostly Germans or Scandinavians, we all have our taste for a beer or two. Wouldn't you know it, in Russia, beer seems to regularly be cheaper to buy at a restaurant than bottled water! A large glass of beer would be about $1.75, whereas a bottle of water might be around $2.50. So, most of us made use of the cheaper option of whetting our thirst. Following dinner, we then returned to our hotel.
The next morning we woke up and had breakfast (once again furnished by the hotel). Overall, we liked the food that the hotels offered, and this one was no different. Then, it was time to head off to catch a boat and ride across the bay to another famous structure, the Peterhof. This building served as the summer palace for the Tsars. So we caught the metro again, walked down to the boating ramps, located the proper one, and headed out.
We wanted to get an early start because, at 11:00 each morning, you can watch the fountains begin. So we got to the Peterhof (again, a nice, cool morning with rain), and found our spots to take pictures or videos of the fountains. (I'll include my video in a future post; it is pretty impressive to see!) We had to pay to get onto the grounds, and then pay again to get into the building. Then, we took the hour and a half tour through the building. The rooms were decorated very ornately. We also learned some of the history of the palace. During World War 2, the Germans captured the palace, and to get it back, the Russians had to bomb the building. That means, of course, that everything inside has been restored. But with the amount of gold included merely in the decorations, and the ornate table settings and furnishings, it became fairly easy to see why the Russian peasants and serfs revolted against their government leaders.
Two full days in St. Petersburg. Tomorrow, tune in for the next two days that we spent there!
Our train departed at midnight, to arrive at St. Petersburg shortly after 8:00AM. We attempted to sleep, and the motion of the train helped out a bit, but no matter how hard you may try, turning seating benches into beds will never work out the best. So, all in all, it was a rather short night of sleep.
We arrived in St. Petersburg to a welcome cool morning, overcast, and even a little drizzly. We walked down the train platform and located our driver, who would take us to our hotel. We started to drive around St. Petersburg, noticing that it was a little less busy on the roads than Moscow had been. (Moscow has approximately 10 million people, St. Petersburg only about 4 million, if I remember correctly) We came to the place where our hotel was, but our driver was unfamiliar with that part of town. I have to admit that I thought we were in the wrong place. All around were shabby looking warehouses and run down buildings. Let's just say that locating hotels is not as easy as we have it here in America. Finally, the driver saw a place where buses would park, so we drove over there, he asked them for some directions, and we discovered that we were practically right next to our hotel. I would never have thought it was a hotel if I had just driven by. Yet, once we got inside, we found a rather nice hotel. (I'll put some pictures up of it soon!)
Since it was so early in the day, our rooms were not ready for us. So we dropped off our luggage in a couple of the rooms that would be ours later, and then set out to walk again (yes, walking is the best way to get around, that and the metro). We went looking for the nearest metro stop, which was only about a kilometer away. This one required tokens instead of cards, so we purchased a number of little tokens, inserted them, and then rode down the escalator toward the metro. Only, this was no ordinary escalator. This was a looooooooooooooong escalator, and soon I'll include a video to show you just how long it really was!
We went toward downtown St. Petersburg, where we had an appointment with the Bishop of the Lutheran Church of Ingria, as our partner church in Russia is called. Bishop Kuggapi is a very humble man who has lived through a lot, and that was very apparent as we spoke with him. We relied upon Jon, our missionary, to translate for us, and enjoyed some refreshments while we chatted. We heard about his past, about his faith journey, and some of the things that he thought we should know for our retreat, which would take place later on in the trip. Overall, my impressions of the Bishop were that he is a true man of faith who cares deeply for God's people in Russia.
After meeting with the Bishop (and presenting him with a cowboy hat, as one of our group members is from Texas!), we then walked around a little bit of the city. Our destination was the Hermitage, which formerly served the Tsars as their summer palace. This huge building currently serves as a large museum of art. There are many famous paintings located there, and innumerable works of art. You literally cannot see everything there in one day. So we got in line to get our tickets.
And we waited. And we waited some more. Finally, we split up our group of 8 throughout the four lines to buy tickets, found which line was moving fastest, and then jumped into it. After checking our bags, we spent the next 2-3 hours looking through the Hermitage at all the paintings (yes, I'll post a few pictures of them in the future). But the one thing that really stood out to me was how little protection these works of art had. There were windows which led out to the busy streets outside which hung open to let a breeze in, along with all the smog and other pollutants in the air, and very few of the paintings were encased in glass. There was no climate control throughout the building, so some rooms were very hot, and others (the ones with the windows open) were very cool. It struck me that this was probably not the best way to preserve these works of art.
Finally, our group wore down, and we decided that it was time to find some dinner. We located this cute little Italian restaurant in the downtown area and went in to eat. Most of our group found something interesting to eat on the menu (I personally selected calamari!). We had a good meal together, and we were all thirsty. This means that it is a good time to tell you about a phenomenon which I had never before seen.
In St. Petersburg, it is not good for visitors to drink the local water. There is something in the water that the locals are used to, but that can cause some real problems for visitors. So we really tried to remember that. Now, being mostly Germans or Scandinavians, we all have our taste for a beer or two. Wouldn't you know it, in Russia, beer seems to regularly be cheaper to buy at a restaurant than bottled water! A large glass of beer would be about $1.75, whereas a bottle of water might be around $2.50. So, most of us made use of the cheaper option of whetting our thirst. Following dinner, we then returned to our hotel.
The next morning we woke up and had breakfast (once again furnished by the hotel). Overall, we liked the food that the hotels offered, and this one was no different. Then, it was time to head off to catch a boat and ride across the bay to another famous structure, the Peterhof. This building served as the summer palace for the Tsars. So we caught the metro again, walked down to the boating ramps, located the proper one, and headed out.
We wanted to get an early start because, at 11:00 each morning, you can watch the fountains begin. So we got to the Peterhof (again, a nice, cool morning with rain), and found our spots to take pictures or videos of the fountains. (I'll include my video in a future post; it is pretty impressive to see!) We had to pay to get onto the grounds, and then pay again to get into the building. Then, we took the hour and a half tour through the building. The rooms were decorated very ornately. We also learned some of the history of the palace. During World War 2, the Germans captured the palace, and to get it back, the Russians had to bomb the building. That means, of course, that everything inside has been restored. But with the amount of gold included merely in the decorations, and the ornate table settings and furnishings, it became fairly easy to see why the Russian peasants and serfs revolted against their government leaders.
Two full days in St. Petersburg. Tomorrow, tune in for the next two days that we spent there!
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